Toledo City Council to vote on accepting CARES Act funding and advancing Colony project

​By Tim Schneider, Toledo Regional Chamber of Commerce

​At its regular meeting on June 2 at 4:00 p.m., Toledo City Council is expected to vote on two ordinances that would accept and spend funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) under the federal CARES Act for COVID-19 related expenses. Ordinance 195-20 would approve $4,453,360 in Community Development Block Grant funding and Ordinance 196-20 would approve $2,249,248 in Emergency Solutions Grant funding. Planned allocations under the ordinances include $1,250,000 for the city’s already implemented micro-enterprise grant program and $2,000,000 for its recently announced emergency rental assistance program. Council is expected to give first reading to a third measure, Ordinance 193-20, which would create a specific fund to accept and spend expected funding to the city for purposes prescribed in the CARES Act.

Also, Council is expected to vote on ordinances for the Colony development planned by ProMedica and Continental Real Estate Co. which would include two apartment buildings, a hotel, and a mixed-use structure near ProMedica Toledo Hospital. Ordinance 188-20 would approve an agreement authorizing the city to spend $1,899,840 on storm sewer and water line improvements at the site, with the developer being responsible for $700,000 of related costs. Ordinances 189-20 and 190-20 would approve 15-year, 100 percent Community Reinvestment Area property tax exemptions for the increase in taxable value on the parcels. Total investment for the development is estimated to be $50 million. The property owner would be required to make payments in lieu of taxes to Toledo Public Schools for the term of the incentives.
 
Council is also expected to vote on the following ordinances:
 

• Ordinance 160-20 which would approve a three-year contract for up to $470,000 annually with Woodlawn Cemetery & Arboretum for operation of the five city-owned cemeteries. The contract would be based on a July 1, 2020 start date and include an option for a three-year renewal.
• Ordinance 185-20 which would approve Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz’s nomination of Katherine Hunt Thomas to replace Cheryl Grice for an unexpired term on the Toledo Area Regional Transit Authority (TARTA) Board of Trustees.
• Ordinance 187-20 which would approve $1,312,461 in additional funding for Ohio EPA mandated repairs to the carbon storage and feed facilities at the low service pumping station near Lake Erie. The funding would be reappropirated from money remaining from previous bonded projects.

 
The public may watch the Council meeting online by visiting https://toledo.legistar.com and scrolling down to the June 2 city council meeting and clicking on “in progress”.

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​​​​Tim Schneider
​
​As Manager for Local Government Advocacy, Tim Schneider advocates for local policies and laws that safeguard and foster a pro-business environment in the Toledo Region. Tim has more than 10 years of legislative and public policy experience with the local, state and federal levels of government.